Pages

Saturday, June 4

Nicole Jacquelyn - Unbreak My Heart

What do you do when your soul mate marries your best friend?If you're Kate Evans, you keep your friend Rachel, bond with her kids, and bury your feelings for her husband. The fact that Shane's in the military and away for long periods helps-but when tragedy strikes, everything changes.After Rachel, pregnant with her fourth child, dies in a car accident and the baby miraculously survives, Kate upends her entire life to share parenting duties. Then on the first anniversary of Rachel's death, Kate and Shane take comfort in each other in a night that they both soon regret.Shane's been angry for a year, and now he feels guilty too - for sleeping with his wife's best friend and liking it . . . liking her. Kate's ability to read him like a book may have once sent Shane running, but their lives are forever entwined and they are growing closer.Now with Shane deployed for seven months, Kate is on her own and struggling with being a single parent. Shane is loving and supportive from thousands of miles away, but his homecoming brings a betrayal Kate never saw coming. So Kate's only choice is to fight for the future she deserves - with or without Shane.

An ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Unbreak my Heart was a book I wanted to read the minute I laid my eyes on it. The blurb promised a beautiful, emotional read and so I didn't have even a moment's hesitation when I requested for a review copy as soon as I got the chance. Did this contemporary romance deliver all it promised to? Read on to find out.

Kate's family fostered Shane in his teen. They got along well- until Kate started wanting more. It was after she brought her best friend Rachel home that things started going in a direction she never anticipated- Shane and Rachel fell in love and even went on to marry. Instead of moving away from them, Kate remains very much a part of their lives as she helps Rachel with her kids while Shane is away on deployment. This becomes their norm, and Shane is blissfully unaware of how much of a help Kate is to their lives as he continues to ignore her.

However things take an unexpected turn when a fourth-time pregnant Rachel is meets with an accident. The baby survives and Rachel is killed, and here's where the story actually takes off. Kate continues to be a part of the kids' lives as she steps in to take care of them without a second thought. A relieved Shane agrees to this, while continuing to give her very little attention. Kate doesn't mind this as her one thought is about the kids- all until the first anniversary of Rachel’s death, where one thing leads to another and Kate ends up pregnant. Shane is very confused about his feelings and keeps pushing Kate away, but with his deployment looming around the corner, he really can't afford to lose Kate and so she ends up moving into his house and pretty much becomes a single parent to his four kids while he is away from home.

“I cared for children that I loved more than myself, gave up the small semblance of a life I'd had before, and became a stand-in. And I didn't regret. Not for a second.”

What follows is an emotional read that you'd have to read for yourself to find out what happens, but it was very full of angst, I can vouch for that. I really liked the main character, Kate. She was a sweet, big-hearted person who always went out of the way to help others. However, I did feel exasperated by her at the beginning. I couldn't shake off the feeling that she was being a doormat, but thankfully she showed tremendous character growth towards the latter part of the book. I loved seeing her change to a more assertive, strong character- she showed that she had the strength to stand up for herself and follow through with her decisions, no matter how hard it was.

I'd pushed her aside for so long that there was no foundation to build on. Just a mess of shattered pieces that I'd crushed with a sledgehammer every time she'd grown closer than I was comfortable with.

Shane is a very complex character. He was angry, confused, broken and hurt, and some of his actions came across as really cruel. I detested him at the beginning and there’s one particular scene in this book that I still can't forgive him for. Therefore I didn't really like him all that much even towards the end of the book- but he did go through a lot of changes.

“Sometimes I think I would have always found my way back to you.”

Kate and Shane were great as a couple and I loved seeing how their relationship grew.The romance served its purpose, but I felt the author added more problems than was needed in the story and therefore ending up having a lot of drama. This is probably my mistake, but I didn't expect this book to have any graphic sex scenes in it. *shrugs* While I understand that they were necessary, I couldn't help but feel that they could have been better written, and that perhaps less would have been more here, given the nature of the book.

The kids are what I loved most about this book. The family theme was strong throughout the book and I loved, loved, loved reading about the various scenes involving the kids. They were really adorable and ended up making me grin a LOT. The author didn't shy away from describing anything involving the kids, including their numerous mishaps and it felt truly lovely to read about them.

Unbreak My Heart was a quick read which had its share of lovely moments and I did enjoy this book, but it wasn't really my cup of tea- probably because I couldn't relate to the situation. However, you should totally pick this up if you feel like a fast-paced, angsty, contemporary romance.

Wow, I absolutely *love* the sound of this one. Big time. I'm a sucker for an angsty romance with a military aspect and this truly sounds right up my alley. I'm sorry to see that something happened with Shane that tainted your feelings for him. It's hard to get past that.